Michel: Ethics Complaint is 'Monday-Morning Quarterbacking'

Following more than two hours of discussion, the Senate Subcommittee on Ethical Conduct was forced to go into recess without making a decision on an .

The complaint stems from Michel's knowledge of an alleged affair between former Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch and a staffer. Sen. Sandra Pappas (DFL-St. Paul) said Michel violated Senate Permanent Rule 56 by failing to swiftly address the matter upon learning about it and mislead the public through contradictory statements.

Michel has long held the ethics complaint has more to do with political games than any sort of ethical conduct issues. He accused Pappas of cherry-picking quotes from the past few months to build her case.

"Partisan politics don't belong in front of you," Michel said. "They don't belong in this room; they don't belong in front of the ethics committee."

Pappas stuck to her initial arguments during the Friday afternoon hearing, saying Michel had an obligation to swiftly address Sen. Amy Koch's alleged relationship in order to provide a safe working environment for Senate staff.

"I'd ask that you require Sen. Michel to address the circumstances surrounding his statements and to publicly apologize on the Senate floor for his actions," she said.

Michel took issue with Pappas' claims, particularly when she said he made a spectacle of the situation with a press conference rather than handling it in a discrete manner.

"We've been criticized for being too fast, we've been criticized for being too slow," he said. "We've been accused of being too transparent and then being part of a cover-up."

Rules dictate the subcommittee could either make a finding of no probable cause, vote to defer action until a certain time or proceed with its investigation.

Sen. Bill Ingebrigtsen (R-Alexandria) initially moved to dismiss the complaint as he said there was no probable cause. That motion failed on a 2-2 vote.

Shortly thereafter, Sen. Kathy Sheran (DFL-Mankato) moved to find probable cause and to proceed with a full investigation. Similarly, that motion died on a split vote.

The subcommittee eventually voted 3-1 to recess the hearing until after a previously scheduled session regarding Voter ID. Patch will update this story when more information becomes available.